USAF Launches New Review of Racial, Gender, Ethnic Disparities

Feb. 19, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Department of the Air Force Inspector General is launching an additional review looking at racial, gender, and ethnic disparities in the ranks as the military continues to reckon with issues of racism and equality.

The Air Force released the 2020 Racial Disparity Review in December, citing wide-spread issues across the department. That 150-page Inspector General report included feedback from 123,000 survey responses and 138 in-person sessions, with Black Airmen reporting distrust of their chain of command, military justice inequalities, and other administrative issues.

The Air Force announced Feb. 19 the next review will expand to additional racial categories: Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. It also will look at gender disparities, as well as disparities with Hispanic/Latino Airmen.

“The IG team has already begun to gather information contained in a wide array of previous reports, studies, and various databases across the Department of the Air Force,” Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth said in a release. “Although the data is helpful, the most important information will come directly from our Airmen and Guardians.”

Roth, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond Jr. directed the review, saying further analysis is needed in the aftermath of the prior review.

“Ensuring fair and equitable discipline and development for all our Airmen and Guardians is critical,” the leaders said, according to the release. “We are committed to promoting an environment free from personal, social, and institutional barriers that might prevent our members from rising to their highest potential. Diversity makes us a stronger and more capable force.”

Airmen, Guardians, and civilians will receive an anonymous survey as part of the review.

“It is critical that we hear from you, because you are a central part of the solution,” Roth said in the release.

Findings from this effort will be released alongside a six-month assessment of what steps have been taken in response to the 2020 review.

Here’s How USAF’s C-130J Wings Are Chasing ACE

Feb. 19, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

For the Air Force’s C-130J wings, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to gear up for agile combat employment, since the different theaters in which they operate—specifically, Europe and the Pacific—come with unique challenges, 19th Airlift Wing Commander Col. John M. Schutte told Air Force Magazine in a recent interview.

“As we think about agile combat employment, a lot of that operational experimentation that’s happening is defined by the geographic problem that we face,” Schutte said.

However, he said, wings across the globe traded notes on ACE during a Jan. 25 C-130J Super Hercules Virtual Weapons System Council. During the event, Active-duty, Guard, and Reserve wings shared updates on all things C-130J—from fleet readiness to training—and collectively made decisions impacting the whole enterprise. The 19th AW hosted the council.

ACE-related efforts may look a bit different from one wing to another, but they’re all complementary, he said.

For example, the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base, Japan, is focusing on quickly getting fuel where it needs to go and then conducting “integrated combat turns.”

“Integrated combat turns are essentially when you’re taking a combat Air Forces asset and you’re helping to allow them to rapidly regenerate to either provide fuel, munitions, or if you needed to bring in a maintenance team to help if the airplane was broken and needed to be rapidly fixed,” he explained. These turns allow CAF and Mobility Air Forces to unite in order to “regenerate combat power” and keep up the fight, he added.

In Europe, on the other hand, the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, is focused on training multi-capable Airmen with “cross-functional competencies,” he said.

Back at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., Schutte said his wing has been “working very aggressively on agile combat employment”—to include integrated combat turns—as well as brainstorming “what force presentation looks like … as an Air Force in a contested theater.” The wing is engineering “a lead wing construct for the C-130,” along the lines of similar Air Combat Command efforts, he said.

The wing integrated with ACC’s Agile Flag 21-1 exercise last fall—an event the command said tested the 366th Fighter Wing’s “ability to deploy into theater as a lead [Air Expeditionary Wing] with a wing-level air staff”—and plans to bring “a C-130 lead wing” to Volk Field, Wis., for the next iteration of the exercise this spring.

“We’re helping to act as an accelerant not just for change within Air Mobility Command but for the Air Force as we strive to partner with the CAF in better ways,” he said.

And just two weeks after the wing concludes its participation in Agile Flag 21-2, it’ll serve as the lead planning wing for Air Mobility Command’s exercise Mobility Guardian 21, Schutte said.

This year’s iteration of the biannual training event will include learning goals tailored both to ACE integration and joint all-domain command and control, he noted.

30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 19-21

Feb. 18, 2021

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Feb. 19:

President George H.W. Bush declares the Soviet peace proposal inadequate.
A mixed force of F-4Gs and F-16s from a composite wing in Turkey launch a daylight attack on Baghdad from the north.
The coalition flies a record 3,000 attack sorties; the total for 34 days of air war rises to 83,000.

Feb. 20:

The U.S. Army engages with a Iraqi reconnaissance unit, destroying five tanks and 20 artillery pieces.

Feb. 21:

Iraq fires three Scud missiles toward King Khalid Military City in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. casualties reach 20 killed in action, 27 wounded in action, 29 missing in action (plus two noncombat missing in action), and nine prisoners of war. The coalition holds 2,500 Iraqi POWs.
After meetings in Moscow with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, the Soviets announce that Iraq accepts the Soviet peace proposal.

Check out our complete chronology of the Gulf War, starting with Iraq’s July 1990 invasion of Kuwait and running through Iraq’s April 1991 acceptance of peace terms.

Beale T-38 Makes Gear-Up Landing at Mather Airport

Feb. 18, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

A T-38 Talon aircraft assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., landed at Mather Airport in Mather, Calif., with at least one of its gears up, causing a fire, the wing announced in a release.

No one was injured in the Feb. 18 incident, which remains under investigation, the release stated. It’s not clear how much damage was done to the aircraft. Fox 40 reported that two Airmen were aboard the trainer at the time.

The airport, which Beale uses for training missions, formerly housed Mather Air Force Base, which halted operations in the early 1990s before being repurposed “for civilian aviation purposes,” according to a Sacramento County web page about the airport’s history.

Under New Rules, Officer Promotion Boards Will See More Negative Information

Feb. 18, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

Air Force officer promotion boards will see more negative information—including serious reprimands—that previously could be hidden from them, under new rules that go into effect March 1.

The new rules, which were published internally in January and announced on Feb. 10, follow a new law included in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that affects mainly majors and above who are up for promotion. Previously, wing commanders and other higher-ups had discretion to remove some damaging information from a company grade officer’s promotion folder, but the new rules standardize what is now included in a promotion package.

This includes:

Court martial convictions
Non-judicial punishment, such as an Article 15
Letters of reprimand
Being relieved of command
Adverse findings of an official investigation, including sexual assault investigations.

Inclusion of some of these incidents was already mandatory.

The changes affect all officers in the Air Force and Space Force, and is retroactive back to January 2012, meaning negative information withheld from boards that far back, and covered under the new guidelines, will be put in future promotion folders.

Though most of the changes affect majors and above, if Airmen or Guardians up for promotion to captain were involved in an incident receiving attention from national news media, or where the information is “of interest to the Senate Armed Services Committee,” that now will be included in promotion packets, the Air Force said in a press release. Previously, such information was only mandated in general officer boards.

Asked why all negative information was not already included as a matter of course in promotion proceedings, an Air Force spokeswoman said on Feb. 17 that some information “was kept in varying places in an officer’s record, and disposition and visibility varied among commanders.” Previously, all actions below a letter of reprimand were optional for inclusion in a promotion folder, “though substantiated investigations and other adverse actions may have been retained by the Inspector General,” she said.

Letters of reprimand and Article 15s “required a mandatory unfavorable information file, maintained at the unit level,” she explained. This information also went into a service member’s “master personnel record,” as well as records kept by the IG, but were “not necessarily provided” to promotion or selection boards, and could be removed by a higher officer in the chain of command.

For example, systemic problems found in USAF and Navy nuclear communities back in 2014 could have been kept from promotion boards in the past. But “substantiated sexual assault offenses, were required to be documented in an officer’s performance report, which was then filed in the officer’s selection record,” the spokeswoman said. “Court-martial convictions were permanently filed in the officer’s selection record.”

The new policy standardizes processes “across the force and ensures promotion boards can fairly and accurately assess the entirety of an officer’s career,” the spokeswoman said.

Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, said in a release that the purpose of the policy is clear: “We must ensure we are promoting leaders of character and competence.”

The new policy was implemented about one month after the Air Force Inspector General’s Independent Racial Disparity Review identified widespread racial disparities in the department. The 150-page report found that one out of every three Black service members believed the military discipline system is biased against them; one out of every three Black officers do not believe the Air Force and Space Force provide them the same opportunities to advance as their white peers; and two out of every five Black civilians have seen racial bias in the services’ promotion systems.

“This additional mechanism in the promotion process will promote transparency and accountability for everyone, especially those we entrust with leading our Airmen and Guardians,” Kelly said, though he acknowledged there will be some “concern” about how the changes might impact promotion opportunities.

“We often hear about it being a ‘one-mistake Air Force,’ which really has not been true,” Kelly said. “The reality is, our selection boards and the Senate have consistently shown the ability to objectively review adverse information and, when appropriate, recommend and confirm officers for promotion, provided the incident is indicative of a mistake and not a character flaw, and the totality of the record shows high performance levels. We expect this to continue.”

Asked how boards are being instructed to distinguish between “character flaws” and “mistakes,” the spokeswoman said boards are being told “how to review and consider adverse information in balance with the totality of the incident and the entire record. The board takes into account the whole-person concept,” in accordance with Air Force regulations.

“This change increases our accountability and demands we hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Kelly said. “The resulting transparency and associated accountability will improve our development and make us a stronger force.”

USAF to Continue Large Exercise, Increase Training With Five Arctic Nations

Feb. 18, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth and the defense leaders of five other Arctic nations signed a letter of intent supporting one of the continent’s largest air exercises and outlining additional steps to expand collaboration.

The letter—signed by Roth and the defense ministers of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden—continues the Arctic Challenge Exercise, which was last held in 2019 and included more than 140 aircraft and 4,000 troops from nine countries. The letter also expands on the Air Force’s first-ever Arctic Strategy, released last summer. The strategy called for increased interoperability with key allies in the region, according to a Feb. 18 release.

“We have a common vision and shared set of values in upholding security and stability in the Arctic region,” Roth said in the release. “Strong, enduring relationships with our allies and partners are essential to safeguarding peace in the region.”

The next iteration of the biennial exercise will be in June.

“The Arctic Challenge Exercise demonstrates the integral role combined exercises play in deepening ties with our allies and partners,” said Kelli L. Seybolt, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs, in the release. “These activities simultaneously strengthen cooperation, enhance interoperability, and support collective defense and deterrence.”

The letter comes as the Air Force deploys B-1B bombers to Norway for the first time. The bombers, from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, will operate out of Orland Air Base, U.S. European Command announced earlier this month. Airmen deployed to the country in early February and were quarantining for 10 days, before preparing for the aircraft’s arrival later this month. While in Norway, the bombers will conduct training in the “high north.”

“Operational readiness and our ability to support allies and partners and respond with speed is critical to combined success,” Gen. Jeffrey L Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa commander, said in a release. “We value the enduring partnership we have with Norway and look forward to future opportunities to bolster our collective defense.”

NATO to Increase Presence in Iraq, Afghanistan Future Unclear

Feb. 18, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

NATO will increase its presence in Iraq following the U.S. drawdown in the country, but its future force size in Afghanistan is still up in the air as violence remains high.

The alliance’s presence in Iraq will grow from 500 to about 4,000, not including the 2,500 American troops now deployed to the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Feb. 18, following two days of meetings with member nations’ defense leaders. Training activities also will expand to Iraqi security institutions beyond Baghdad, he added.

“Our presence is conditions-based and increases in troop numbers will be incremental,” Stoltenberg said in a press conference.

The announcement comes days after an international contractor was killed and eight others, including a U.S. service member, were wounded in a rocket attack on a military base at the Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Stoltenberg said the Islamic State group remains a threat in Iraq, and Iraqi forces need international support to grow in strength.

“ISIS still operates in Iraq and we need to make sure they’re not able to return,” he said. “We have also seen some increase in attacks by ISIS, and that just highlights the importance of strengthening the Iraqi forces.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III participated in the meetings, and “reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the enduring defeat of ISIS, respecting Iraq’s sovereignty, and ensuring long-term regional stability,” according to a Pentagon readout of the meetings.

The U.S. welcomes NATO’s expanded role, and Austin “expressed confidence that all of the work done to date with the Iraqi government and security forces will lead to a self-sustainable mission,” according to the Pentagon.

The future in Afghanistan is less clear. The U.S. reduced its presence in the country to about 2,500 last month, with plans to withdraw all forces by May. But American and NATO officials say Taliban violence is still too high, leaving open the possibility that U.S. troops will remain in the country longer.

Stoltenberg said NATO will remain in close communication with allies “in the coming weeks,” as it decides what its force structure will look like in Afghanistan.

“The problem is that we are in a situation where we have a date—1st of May—approaching. And so far we have seen that the peace talks are fragile,” Stoltenberg said. “They are not making so much progress as we want to see. And, therefore, we also, of course, are extremely concerned by the increased level of violence. And, therefore, our message to the Taliban is to reduce violence, negotiate in good faith, and make sure that they stop all cooperation with international terrorist groups.”

The U.S. is conducting a “thorough review of the conditions of the U.S.-Taliban Agreement to determine whether all parties have adhered to those conditions,” according to the Pentagon statement. Austin reiterated the American commitment to a diplomatic effort to end the war, and “he reassured Allies that the U.S. would not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,” according to the statement.

First of 17 B-1Bs Heads to the Boneyard

Feb. 17, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The first of 17 B-1B bombers to be retired this fiscal year under a Congressionally-approved divestiture plan flew to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on Feb. 17, Air Force Global Strike Command said.

The aircraft was based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., but the Air Force did not provide specifics on which aircraft retired.

“This action will not affect the service’s lethality or any associated maintenance manpower,” AFGSC said in a press release. It will allow a focus of maintenance and “depot-level manpower on the remaining aircraft, increasing readiness and paving the way for the bomber fleet modernization.”

Not all 17 Lancers will go to the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group, also known as the boneyard, once they retire. One will go to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for testing, although AFGSC did not say if the jet will conduct air or static ground tests. Another will go to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Air Force Global Strike Command may send a third to Wichita State University, Kansas, for research, and a fourth may become a “gate guard” or a static display at an unidentified location.

Four of the 17 bombers will be kept in “recallable storage,” AFGSC said, which means the aircraft will get a Spraylat treatment to keep out moisture and animals, and the engines will be cocooned to preserve the “functional and material integrity” of the airplanes. AFGSC could not say how long they are required to keep the aircraft in this status. The remaining B-1s going to the boneyard will be eligible for parts cannibalization.

After the drawdown, 45 airplanes will be left in the operational B-1 fleet, about evenly divided between Ellsworth and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. All congressional delegations and committees affected by the drawdown have been notified, a AFGSC spokesman said.

The B-1B retirements will make way for the new B-21 stealth bomber, and are “something we have been working toward for some time,” AFGSC Commander Gen. Timothy M. Ray said in a press release. USAF “accelerated” the retirements because excessive wear and tear on the aircraft during the last two decades “would cost tens of millions of dollars per aircraft” to fix, “and that’s just the problems we know about,” Ray said.

An AFGSC spokesman said the actual estimate is, “$10 million to $30 million per aircraft to get back to a status quo fleet in the short term until the B-21 comes online.”

The Air Force is conducting a long-term structural fatigue test on a B-1 carcass and wing at Boeing’s facilities near Seattle, Wash. The tests will help engineers anticipate structural problems on the remaining fleet that will need to be addressed.

Retiring the B-1s with “the least amount of usable life allows us to prioritize the health of the fleet and crew training,” Ray asserted. “Our ability to balance these priorities will make us more capable and lethal overall.”

30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 18

Feb. 17, 2021

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Feb. 18:

Two US Navy vessels, the amphibious assault ship Tripoli and the guided missile cruiser Princeton, strike mines in Gulf and suffer significant damage.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz returns to Baghdad with a peace proposal from Soviet President Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. The Soviet Union offers a four-point peace plan:
1. An unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait
2. Protection for Iraqi territorial integrity
3. No punishment of Saddam Hussein or other Iraqi leaders
4. Talks about other Middle Eastern problems, particularly the Palestine problem

Check out our complete chronology of the Gulf War, starting with Iraq’s July 1990 invasion of Kuwait and running through Iraq’s April 1991 acceptance of peace terms.